Nothing Besides Remains: Confluence at Bedias Creek
Nothing Beside Remains offers a profound journey through time, exploring the layered history of the region of Northern Walker County, where Bedias Creek flows into the Trinity River.
From the Bedias Indians to the lost Spanish city of Trinidad de Salcedo, each exhibit unveils a chapter in the area's narrative. The exhibition delves into the economic legacy of Calhoun Plantation and the changing landscape of land use over time. Visitors will encounter geological wonders, including coal deposits, fossils, and traces of salt, revealing the deep history embedded in the earth. Using cutting-edge technology like ground-penetrating radar, the exhibition also sheds light on forgotten stories, such as the lost slave burials surrounding Calhoun Cemetery, inviting reflection on the interconnectedness of past and present.
How Land Shapes Societies
Nothing has been more important to the advancement of civilizations than the environment and the land supporting those societies. To understand how land shapes societies and the role humans play in changing the land around them, “Doing so requires a history, not only of human actors, conflicts, and…
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The Geological Bounties of Texas
The Role of Salt and Coal in Shaping Landscape and Life in East Texas
Overview
Cradled underneath the bedrock of East Texas lies a geological phenomenon that has served and continues to serve a pivotal role in the region's history and ecosystem dynamics: salt. These natural formations--found in the forms of both naturally occurring salt deposits and…
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Manning Infused Glass
The Texas of prehistory indexed in the rock record presents a very different state from the one of modernity: a geological hotbed of activity and processes, the Lone Star State was undergoing dramatic changes over thousands of years that resulted in the familiar landscapes seen today, as well as…
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The Bidai Indians
The Bidai Indians lived nestled along Bedias Creek at the confluence of the Trinity and Brazos rivers in southeast Texas, at the modern-day junction of Grimes, Madison, and Walker counties. Little is known about the Bidai tribe as there is a lack of conclusive evidence about their culture, but…
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Trinidad de Salcedo
The History of Trinidad de Salcedo
The Spanish colonial government founded Trinidad de Salcedo (1806-1813) during a period of geo-political tumult in Texas. The Spanish established a military post in Trinidad as a strategic point between Nacogdoches and San Antonio de Béxar in hopes of rooting out smuggled goods from Louisiana. During its brief existence, the settlement drew farmers, ranchers, soldiers, runaway slaves, famous…
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The Calhoun Plantation
Walker County became a desirable location for Anglo settlers in the mid-nineteenth century, spurred by steamboat navigation of the Trinity River which could transport goods to the Port of Galveston. [1] Significant population growth took place between 1850 and 1860, reflective of the growing…
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Millie Collins, The Woman at the Cabin
Descendants of the Samuel Calhoun family shared the black and white photo of a woman standing before a cabin who is referred to as Millie Collins. It is identified in a 1979 rendition of the Calhoun Plantation that she lived in her own cabin which is in the background of the photo. [1] In addition,…
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Calhoun Cemetery History
Construction and Dedication
The cemetery itself is constructed from a decorative wrought-iron fence. These were commonplace at the time for family cemeteries, especially among the wealthier ones. Originally, the decorative gate and posts were cast up in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, also known as “The Iron City.” The materials…
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Samuel Calhoun Grave
Notable Burials at Calhoun Cemetery
Samuel Calhoun
Samuel Calhoun (1788-1875) was originally born in Abbeville County, South Carolina. He would also be a Commander of the Fifth Cavalry in Georgia during the War of 1812. After the war, he settled a plantation in Georgia and then moved to Alabama with his six children and son-in-law…
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Calhoun Cemetery Standouts: Interesting Stories Unearthed
Diary of John Felix Kelly
John Felix Kelly(1845-1888) was a Cincinnati settler whose family hails from Ireland. He wrote in his diary about events, weather, the terrain of east Texas, and offers his personal opinions of the people and events in Cincinnati. The version of the journal that we have…
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Unmarked graves at Calhoun Cemetery
In rural Walker County, Texas, a quiet cemetery rests on a hill ringed by an ornamental fence. It is near the Old Calhoun Ferry Crossing on the Trinity River, North of Lost Indian Camp Road. It is a small family cemetery belonging to the War of 1812 veteran and plantation owner Samuel Calhoun…
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Economic Transition
The economy of Walker County, Texas following the Civil War matched much of the surrounding area. Agriculture ruled the day. It was not without events that hastened a transition from slavery/cash crops to share cropping to one of cattle ranching that we see today. Take some statistics, for example,…
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Changes in the Land: Present-Day Use of Land in the Bedias Creek-Trinity River Confluence
20th Century (and Beyond) Changes to the Land
The land at the confluence of Bedias Creek and the Trinity River has been a Bedias Indian settlement, Spanish garrison and bustling cotton plantation. Today it’s blanketed in forest, home to cattle and timber production, oil and gas wells, and state prison facilities. The story behind the transition is one of social, cultural, economic and technological change.
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This digital exhibit would not have been possible without the help of the Calhoun Family, the geologist David Hoffpauir, and the curator of the Natural History Collections at SHSU, Will Godwin.